PLANS to turn Dawn Mill into a multi-million pound superstore have been resurrected.

Oldham Council has been contacted by a major retailer with a view to developing the site on Eastway, Shaw.

The company involved is said to be ASDA, who already have a store in Chadderton. When the Advertiser contacted their head offices in Leeds a spokesman said they had no comment to make.

A spokesman for the council's planning department said no planning application had been received at this stage.

However, Cllr David Hibbert, cabinet member for regeneration, said: "This is great news, not only for Shaw but the regeneration of the whole borough."

"This will be a major development creating hundreds of jobs and bringing millions of pounds into the local economy."

His words were echoed by Cllr Howard Sykes, representative for Shaw, who said: "Having a major supermarket will be good for the other retailers and the people of Shaw. And not only that it will bring shoppers from elsewhere into the town."

Plans to turn the mill into a supermarket were first mooted in 2000. An application was submitted to Oldham Council, but it was later withdrawn.

When the plans for the store were originally unveiled, the occupants of a row of terraced houses on Eastway, which backs onto the mill, objected. They feared their lives would be badly affected by noise.

However, Cllr Sykes believes the then developer entered into negotiations with the owners of the properties, eventually buying them for the market rate, with a view to demolish them.

As a result of the development being shelved no one now lives in the houses and they have fallen into decay.

Cllr Sykes said: "On a number of occasions there have been problems with 'undesirables' breaking into the properties and the theft of any usable material, such as slate, from the houses. Keeping them secure is a constant problem."

"My main concern, together with those of local residents, is the danger these properties are in of being vandalised and the general blight created to the area."

"If the supermarket goes ahead and these eyesores are demolished it will be a welcome solution."